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Meg Whitman's nanny problem

Meg Whitman's campaign and her former housekeeper and nanny's high-profile lawyer, Gloria Allred, offered dueling versions of the story today dominating the race for governor of California.

They agree that Whitman fired Nicky Diaz last June on the grounds that she was an illegal immigrant, a few months after Whitman began her campaign for governor.

Whitman's lawyer, Tom Hiltachk, said Whitman fired her after she "confessed" her status. Allred said Whitman fired the housekeeper after she asked Whitman's help getting legal status.

The nanny had, he said, deceived Whitman: She filled out standard [Internal Revenue Service] forms and Department of Justice forms and presented her Social Security card and California driver's license. She filled out immigration forms that stated under penalty of perjury that she was a lawful resident."

Allred said her client "alleges that Ms. Whitman was aware of her status." She provided no direct evidence for that but suggested Whitman should have known because of the nanny's references to her inability to travel outside the country and by alleged letters from the Social Security Administration reporting that her social security number did not match her name.

Her employment and firing were a "nightmare" said Allred, who cast the case in the most politically inflammatory terms possible, and said her client had been "exploited, disrespected, humiliated, and emotionally and financially abused" and that she was filing a claim in state court for damages included unreimbursed mileage on the nanny's car.

Allred then coached the nanny through a tearful press conference in which she recounted an argument between Whitman and her husband when they learned that she was in the country illegally, in which -- she claimed -- Whitman said the family was "at fault" because they "never asked" if she was in the country legally.

"I hope no one else has to suffer the way that I did," she said. "She treated me as if I was not a human being."

Whitman said in a statement that she's "worried" about Diaz and that she is being "manipulated" by Allred.

"Nicky told me that she was admitting her deception now because she was aware that her lie might come out during the campaign. Nicky said she was concerned about hurting my family and me," Whitman said. "As required by law, once we learned she was an illegal worker, I immediately terminated Nicky’s employment. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I considered Nicky a friend and a part of our extended family."